Why does Boxer look Damaged?

The original Boxer was a hollow bronze incense burner with a head that swiveled to open with a hinge and a removable tail. When students began to treat the statue as a trophy -- hiding it, stealing it and fighting over it in "Boxer Tosses" -- it was damaged many times. Pieces included the head, tail, and feet were separated then reunited with the body again and again, for example: 

• The tail was probably first separated from the body in 1911. One leg may have broken about this time. 
• The tail was reunited with the body in 1914 but was separated again by 1919.
• Sometime in the 1920s, the head was welded to the body so that Boxer faced straight ahead, rather than to the side. The broken leg was welded back on.  
• From 1925 to about 1934, the tail appears to have been in company with the body some of the time.
• From 1934 to the late 1940s, the tail was separated from the body. A student named Lee Prangle seems to have had possession of it from around 1940 through at least 1948.
• In 1949 according to one report, the tail was reunited with the body, but other reports state that the tail remained lost and had not been seen for many years.
• In 1950 the tail is reported being “passed around among the alumni.” 
• In 1960, the first report of an ear being separated appears: “Jack Liles [an Alpha Zeta] now has one of Boxer’s ears.”
• In 1962, Boxer was photographed with the tail but missing his ears, horn and whiskers.
• In 1967, a student on campus says the rumor is that the “the Phi Lambda Omicron sorority has either a tail or a leg from the statue safely locked away. Another fraternity, Phi Beta, is reputed to have either a leg or a paw from the animal.”
• In 1969, the body disappeared for over 50 years; Boxer's tail, feet, ears, horn and whiskers were separated.
• 2000s-2010s: one foot, one ear and the tail are brought back to Pacific.
• 2024: the body is brought back to Pacific. 
• Still missing: one ear, one foot, horn and whiskers

On a few occasions, the pieces were welded back together to make Boxer whole again. But because students feared that Boxer could be stolen by a rival group, repairs always had to be done in secret. They were not always done well!

The first permanent change in Boxer's appearance occured in the 1920s, when his head was welded back on after a break. While the earliest photos of Boxer show him looking over his left shoulder, by the late 1920s Boxer is looking straight ahead. His left leg was likewise broken sometime in the 1910s and welded on in the 1920s. He collected a series of etched initials, new breaks and separations of body parts from then through the early 1940s. 

After World War II, many veterans came to college under the G.I. Bill and Pacific's male student population grew, swelling the ranks of those who fought over Boxer whenever he reappeared.  The students made an effort in '49 to put all the various pieces of Boxer back together, but these repairs did not last long. Color slides taken just a year later show how extensive the damage was:  gold-toned welds criss-crossed his legs, changing Boxer's stance and obliterating original detail. 

The 1960s were not kind to the statue. By '62, Boxer's ears, whiskers, and horn were missing -- the latter two never to be seen again. (At least, not in public!) His legs were broken off repeatedly during the decade, leaving him with two stumps by the time of his longest disappearance in 1969. 

Boxer's body was out of public view for 55 years, returning to campus at last in 2024. He came back looking much like he did when he was last seen. Almost every open surface is etched with initals and words, showing evidence of so many who held the statue in the past. Alumni have returned several of Boxer's fragments that broke off in the 60s: one ear, one foot, and the tail. The other foot is rumored to be in the hands of alumni to this day. As for the other ear, the whiskers and horn: these may be gone forever.

Will Boxer's pieces be put back together once more?  Time will tell.